Questions to Ask Yourself

This was the first post I wrote when I launched this blog December 24, 2012. Years later this blog has generated millions of dollars in sales and I have worked with close to 100 people that found me through my writing.

I'm often asked which real estate investment is best: Condominiums/ Apartments, Single Family homes, or Multifamily buildings.  The answer, in my opinion, is that each has it's benefits and drawbacks.  The first consideration has to be whether you as a buyer are going to manage the property, or if someone else is going to do this for you.  It's crucial to be realistic about this decision, and your proximity to the property you're buying.  If you live 3 hours away from your purchase it's not realistic to think you can get to the building in a timely manner each time a tenant has an issue that needs to be addressed.

The second thing people often overlook, are the little things!  For example, I'm often asked if a client should buy a single family home or a condominium as an investment.  Consider this, on the single family home you have to maintain the home in the same manner you would maintain your single family residence.  That means paying to have the lawn cut, paying for an insurance policy, maintaining the structure of the home, and pool cleaning as some examples.  Of course you can have the tenant pay some of these costs, but in return you will have to lower their rent in order to stay competitive with market rents.  With a condominium or apartment the Home Owners Association, or HOA is going to cover most of the daily maintenance for you.  You won't have to rely on city garbage as complex's have their own trash removal companies.  The pool is maintained by the HOA.  Your monthly maintenance will most likely cover the water bill for your unit, along with the insurance for the exterior of the building.  When you compare investments against one another you need to think of all these expenses, or your income calculations can end up miles off the mark.

I will begin a series of posts which expand upon the real estate investment theme.  Fort Lauderdale has a number of great properties that will cash flow, and provide stable monthly returns.